Texas Security Concerns, Withdraws From Federal Refugee Program

With its demands for steps to protect the security of its citizens unmet, the state of Texas on Wednesday said it will no longer participate in the Obama administration’s refugee resettlement program.

Texas had demanded that any refugees resettled in the state receive extensive security checks to ensure that refugees are not terror threats. The federal government would not agree to the plan Texas has proposed.

As a result, the state has written to the Office of Refugee Resettlement to announce that Texas will withdraw from the program on Jan. 31, 2017.

“The federal government’s refugee settlement program is riddled with serious problems that pose a threat to our nation,” Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, said in a statement. “The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the director of national intelligence have repeatedly declared their inability to fully screen refugees from terrorist-based nations. Even with the inability to properly vet refugees from Syria and countries known to be supporters or propagators of terrorism, President Obama is now ineptly proposing a dramatic increase in the number of refugees to be resettled in the U.S.”